Motorists face "arguably the most treacherous of all conditions" for driving in next week.

The cold snap has caused mayhem in Surrey and London this week with conditions yet to improve over the weekend.

Chilly air from the "Beast from the East" has caused treacherous spells of snow blizzards.

Now freezing rain is making it's way to the UK - a new type of weather to descend on the country.

So what is this unusual weather phenomenon?

What is freezing rain?

As reported by Kent Live , the new rain has the potential to be hazardous.

Freezing rain is rain that has been "supercooled" as it falls and when it strikes a cold surface, it freezes almost instantly.

It can be dangerous because the ice that falls is extremely clear and is hard to see on the roads or pavements, making conditions troublesome for those on foot or in cars.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "Freezing rain tends to start its life as snow, ice, sleet or hail, but passes through a layer of air that’s above 0 °C on the way down to the ground, melting into a liquid water droplet.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse this week (Image: West Lothian Courier)

"If these droplets then fall through a zone of sub-zero air just above the ground, they become supercooled.

"When these supercooled droplets strike surfaces that are close to or below freezing, they freeze on impact forming a glaze of ice.

The conditions needed for freezing rain to occur are quite specific and we don’t see them very often, making this phenomenon quite rare in the UK.